Pogba Agent: Situation Precarious... But We're Willing

February 28, 2012

Speculation that Paul Pogba will leave Manchester United this summer is mounting, with top clubs in Italy keen to secure the talented youngster. It was disappointing to learn that Pogba is now represented by Mino Raiola, the same agent as Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who doesn’t have the best reputation. He is ruthless and money-driven, meaning he is unlikely to be encouraging Pogba to sign a deal with United.

“It is a precarious situation,” Raiola told The Independent. “It is difficult at the moment. Manchester United want him. It is up to the boy to make some decisions. We know there are some clubs interested in him. We must finish first with Manchester and after that we will see other options, if they are there. The club give the indication that they want to keep him and we are talking contract terms. There is willingness from both parties at the moment.”

Rumours suggest that Pogba was given a deadline to decide by Sir Alex Ferguson, which has come and gone, explaining his absence from the Ajax squad, although some reports suggest he has until Friday to make a decision.

“It is never nice for the player not to be in the squad,” he said. “We must keep our minds cool and heads cool. Some things are good. Some things are not good [in this situation].”

I think it's a game of brinkmanship on the part of Pogba's agent who is trying to squeeze as much as he can out of Utd. It's the oldest dog whistle in the agent's hand book to say 'there are some clubs interested in him' as a threat to the host club, in this case, United. It's also a dog whistle for other clubs to test the waters with a bid behind the scenes, just in case.

I have no doubt that Pogba's agent would get a better deal by selling him on because that's how he makes real money. Pogba's agent has probably been turning his head and puffing him up as a way to soften him up for a move away and catering to a person's basest instincts (i.e.. quick money and perhaps even instant importance as a first team player).

We're Manchester United, if they don't want to play for us there are plenty that do. If it's this difficult for the poor boy to decide now what's it going to be like if he turns out to be a superstar? more "the club lacks ambition" rubbish?

Seriously, he's a good prospect but let him join Morrison in West Ham Reserves if he thinks it will further his career.

Fuckin agents, if pogba is stupid enuf to believe that by goin abroad he will start more and walk straight into a side like juventus then good ridance. I'd bite my owwn arm off to get half a chance at playin ten mins for a side of utd calibre. UTD

One thing i find really disappointing is how this is happening only with our youngsters. Look at the Barca kids,they seem so proud to represent their club and we dont ever hear about one looking to leave for stupid reasons nor their agents being assholes. Madrid have a couple of kids moving through and then even scousers have their kids there not behaving like this ( the fact they arent very good doesnt matter).

Of course we can't be making exceptions and pandering to the whims of young players, especially agent-manipulated ones. I just think, club loyalties aside, it's very sad that young, naive men all over the footballing world are talked out of wise decisions and decisions that will be best for their career, by these snakes, all so that they can line their pockets. Sickening.

That's a very good point. I suppose unless their parents or other family are 'footballing people' (and you often find those represented by their cousin/brother/dad don't end up in this situation), the agent's likely to be in their ears as much as in the player's. Also, if - as is predominantly the case - the footballer is from a poor or working class family, they'll always be more inclined to favour the option which is more beneficial financially, which is also the one that will benefit the agent more.

Have to totally disagree with your comment.....We had issues with Morrison who is a nutter and now Pogba who's agent is just a greedy fuck. To say our youngsters do not have loyalty is a huge label, furthermore to compare us to the likes of Liverpool on that front is even worse. Do you not believe that most of our youngsters are proud to be at the club they love? Furthermore do you not believe that they would sacrifice a left nut just to be given a chance?

Why do these players have agents ? On the other hand are we now seeing the affect the glazers debt has on the club now?if pogba goes that's two of our youth of the future gone, what do u guys think?Are we really that broke !!

Im talking about both of these guys who were supposed to be the future of our club. Im not generalizing all our youngsters of course.IIRC even Fryers name was mentioned along the same lines a month or so ago. Pool was just a comparison. Im sure the majority of them are proud to be donning our colours,but so far,all we've been hearing about our youth setup is how those guys have been wanting to leave

You've hit the nail right on the head. We're broke. Only managed to spend 60m on players over the past couple of seasons where it should have been half a billion.... Personally I blame Fergie, he is greedy and supports the owners for his own benefit. Something needs to happen quick otherwise we're fucked.... Its 1974 all over again

That's probably because currently, players feel anything below Barca is a step down. I don't see many clamoring to leave them anytime soon, especially their youth system of mainly spanish players. As much as i don't like saying it, Barca currently are the flavour of the footballing world, including madrid, they're the clubs the best want to be. Barca do lose good youth players, due to the fact that they feel they have no chance of breaking in (pique, fabregas) but they eventually return anyway. Pogba was brought to the club, he has no affiliation with united, it's an opportunity he took and now the hype is circulating him like a pack of hyenas rejoicing before slaying their prey, his agent clearly wants to cash in on that comparing the two clubs is perplexing.

Moving on, this probably is a hint that pogba may well be leaving for serie a. I don't the manager could have done more to prove he has a chance of breaking in. He has been on the bench various times this season, Fergie giving him a taste of what could be if he makes the right choices but at the same time, the scot-man can be ruthless and i won't be Suprised if he has given an ultimatum.

raiola is a greedy twat though. His commission is more important than the future of a player. Why pogba insist on an agent like this is beyond me. Clearly the advice of the experienced players at the club aren't working well.

Unlike morrison, pogba has a good attitude/ personality and that gives a glimmer of hope that this may well be resolved but a likely departure seems to to be on the horizon. A shame if this were to happen, a shame indeed.

if Pogba have 10 brain cells he would realise that United is where he must stay, greedy agent or not... if Giggs and Scholes alone dont inspire him then nothing else will and then its better off leaving cause he WILL be trouble in the future. Gr8 prospect, nonetheless...

Fergie has a history of making special exceptions if the player is worth it (note his handling of Cantona, his handling of Rooney, Ronaldo etc...).

This boy is certainly not at their level yet of course, but if Fergie believes he is vitally important to the future, then he will ensure all the stops are pulled out to keep him, if he doesn't then well, he will make the offer to the level as he sees fit and let Pogba make his own decision. Simple.

It is clear that Fergie wants him to stay, so I suspect this is just the usual agent games of trying to squeeze a little bit more money out of the deal for his client.

My own personal opinion is that we should pay him well to keep him, as if he turns out as he could, then he could well save us the trouble of having to buy a £20m player down the line.

With Scholes surely not going to play beyond next season and Morrison out of the picture, Carrick and Park getting older and Fleth's future uncertain there is a real need for midfielders. Is he that impatient and short-sighted that he can't see the opportunity?

I guess, we need someone like Gnev to guide these kids, he was the one who used to talk to the youngsters guide them and help them out with their contracts. Rio was supposed to take that role but he is not that effective..
Gnev is a great pundit but he should be brought back to the club and given some role.. maybe on the same lines of Zidane (for madrid), Viera (for city)

Whatever Pogba. If you think you are bigger than Manchester United, then you are a fool. Fact of the matter is, you are a youth team player with potential who's just got into the first team squad this season. The key word here is potential. Nothing has been proven yet other than 20 odd mins against Stoke where you proved you weren't out of your depth. Well done.

I seriously think these kids need a reality check. You play your cards right, you prove your worth, you get your just rewards from Fergie. I wonder if it's agents or players really believing their own hype before they've done anything? Sad

All of ROM, unless we match our rivals with players like Henderson and Downing and fatty Adam, the end is in sight. Tactically inept and this could well be 1974 all over again. ''Who the Fuck are Man United''

there might be other reasons other than money. playing time is crucial especially at their young age. 1 year in the reserve, on the bench, might means a year or half a year delay in terms of getting sufficient experience to play at a higher level.

fans keep talking abt giggs and scholes, but fail to realise that in a way they started in the first team at a relatively young age, partly of course because they are good players, but also because there are less alternatives.

after all, from their point of view, how many player nowadays really graduate from the academy to play in the first team? actually not many, and often maybe because there is simply no space for them. takes a bit of luck too. for e.g. evans who got sufficient time to grow and mature due to injuries in the squad.

similarly, i think players will obligated to fight for themselves. they have to.

with morrison, the question is he actually happier to get more game time? we do not know. but i think it's precisely because we do not not know, we shouldn't jump to criticize a player's exact motives.

Enough already. I'm sick to death of this Pogba crap each and every day. The kid obviously doesn't want to stay, having had his head filled with a lot of crap by one of the seediest agents around, all of whom have only one thing in mind - how much of a cut they can get for themselves by playing the field with their clients, regardless of what may be in their best interests. As has often been said, if you play at United and are good enough the money will find you, you don't need to go searching for it. But unfortunately Pogba has obviously had his head turned by Raiola with promises of more money and regular first team football elsewhere. Morrison's dissent and jumping ship to West Ham probably didn't help the cause either.

Let's not complain too much either about how mercenary the kid is - after all, we poached him from Le Havre under dubious circumstances when they had put in all the development of the kid at junior level, and it's not the first time we've taken advantage of European restrictions to snap up other kids under similar circumstances.

Some other team will certainly benefit from his time at United, but we've done the same to others so lets just take it on the chin and move on. If he wanted to stay at United he'd have signed by now, so as far as I'm concerned he's gone and I'm not about to wring my hands any further over the lost cause that Pogba represents. He looks as if he has a promising career ahead of him and I'd have loved to see him live up the Viera-like hype and help give United some steel again in midfield, especially paired up to Cleverly. But it's just not going to happen, so let's move on.

Great posts all around on this topic. I hate realists who might come in and talk as if United are losing something in the deal and how we have to move on with the rest of the world. We've stayed ahead of the competition all these years by doing it our own way and not pandering to the whims of such agents and overpaid cunts.

Jerry Maguire got this kind of scenario spot on. There's a scene early on in the film where Cruise is trying to do the right thing and the player and the parents go behind his back to the greedy agent who gets them a better deal. That is exactly the kind of scenario that often takes place when principled clubs like United are involved. I am not naive enough to think United are above any wrongdoing but I don't think that is how Sir Alex would run our club. Whatever happens, the club, the player and his family come first for Sir Alex.

Cedars - Hello mate. Oh I know he is the senile old fool. Just read an article on Evans on the Mail site and that cunt Tring is at again saying even the Norwich players were laughing at him. What a fucking mug. Why does this clown pollute the Mail site and occasionaly this blog when he is clearly not a United fan? Fucking prick.

hate rentboys but isn't this partially Utds fault for letting his contract run down,i don't think the agent is bluffing there's been rumors about other clubs for months.I agree if he doesn't want to stay he can fuck off but this is the risk any club takes with free agency